Find the "LIVE" video version of this episode : HERE
0:00 - Town Hall Episode Introduction
1:30 - Host Introduction
7:32 - Spoken Word from Jessica Rycheal
10:30 - Conversation with Dr. Julian Perez
37:00 - Spoken Word from Naa Akua
40:20 - Conversation with Ijeoma Oluo
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Jessica Rycheal is a Multi-disciplinary Storyteller and Creative Director from Macon, Georgia. Since relocating to Seattle in 2014, Jessica has carved space for herself in the pacific northwest with a decade of experience in brand strategy and design, and a blossoming presence in the fine art space.
Her diverse body of work embraces vulnerability as an act of resistance. It asks us to challenge traditional notions of identity and belonging as she chronicles tales of healing, resilience, and her journey toward authentic selfhood.
In 2018, her exhibition “Everyday Black,” a collection of contemporary portraits affirming the humanity and brilliance of blackness, debuted at the Northwest African-American Museum. Since then, Jessica Rycheal has appeared in the Seattle Times, NPR, City Arts Magazine, Human Condition Magazine, and featured at Seattle Art Museum.
Dr. Julian Perez has been with Sea Mar since 2007. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology with a minor in Spanish from the University of Idaho, and his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine (2004). He completed his Family Medicine Residency with in 2007 and his Sports Medicine Fellowship in 2016 with Swedish Family Medicine at Cherry Hill, in Seattle. He is board certified in Family Medicine, Sports Medicine and Musculoskeletal Ultrasonography.
Dr. Perez’s philosophy of care is that health care is a human right for all. He believes that the work of primary care physicians is to ensure the health and well-being of the people of our country. He is an advocate for universal health care for all, and supports the community health center model as the instrument for achieving this goal.
Dr. Perez enjoys folkloric dancing with Seattle’s highly regarded professional dance group, Bailadores de Bronce. He also loves hiking, camping, road biking, international travel, ethnic festivals, gardening, and cooking.
Naa Akua, was a 2019 Citizen University Poet-in-Residence, queer poet, emcee, and Gregory Award winning actor. They are a WITS writer-in-residence at Franklin High School and a co facilitator for Young Women Empowered Y-WE Lead program. Intentionality, love, and encouragement is the focus of Akua’s work that can be found in tracks like “The Elements” or “Till It All Goes Away” from their mixtape Odd(s) Balance (on SoundCloud.com). Naa Akua was a cast member of Book-it Repertory Theater’s adaptation of T. Geronimo Johnson’s “Welcome to Braggsville”, a cast member for Theater Schmeater’s production of “Welcome to Arroyo’s”, a participant of an original boilesque ballet Earth Pearl Production called “Tailfeathers”. Naa Akua’s one person show, Akwaaba: Healing of A Queer Black Soul ran as part of Gay City’s Mosaic program and recently Earth Pearl Collectives, Sovereign Queer Black Womyn Festival. Naa Akua has also been a cast member of the groundbreaking play “Queer. Mama, Crossroads” written by Anastacia-Reneé and directed by Anastacia-Reneé and Aviona-Rodriguez Brown, Akua has also been apart of Sound Theater’s Gregory Award winning production of “Citizen, An American Lyric” written by Claudia Rankine and produced by Jay ‘O Leary. When Akua is not writing and performing they are facilitating Sound Healing sessions which focus on breathing, being in the body and meditation.
Ijeoma Oluo is a Seattle-based writer, speaker, and Internet Yeller. She’s the author of the New York Times Best-Seller So You Want to Talk about Race, published in January by Seal Press. Named one of the The Root’s 100 Most Influential African Americans in 2017, one of the Most Influential People in Seattle by Seattle Magazine, one of the 50 Most Influential Women in Seattle by Seattle Met, and winner of the of the 2018 Feminist Humanist Award by the American Humanist Society, Oluo’s work focuses primarily on issues of race and identity, feminism, social and mental health, social justice, the arts, and personal essay. Her writing has been featured in The Washington Post, NBC News, Elle Magazine, TIME, The Stranger, and the Guardian, among other outlets.
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LIVE Season Finale Produced In Partnership With :
Town Hall Seattle (https://townhallseattle.org/)
The South Seattle Emerald (https://southseattleemerald.com/)
The Seattle Channel (https://www.seattlechannel.org/)
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Executive Producer + Host // Marcus Harrison Green
Executive Producer + Host // Enrique Cerna
Executive Producer + Host // Jini Palmer
Additional Production Support Provided By // Hans Anderson & JEFFSCOTTSHAW
Music Provided By // Draze "The Hood Ain't The Same" // http://www.thedrazeexperience.com/about-draze/
